South Africa agriculture, finance sectors help economy recover

Reuters
Farm workers load beetroots onto a tractor at a farm in Klippoortie, east of Johannesburg November 21, 2012. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa's agriculture and financial sectors grew 4.9 percent and 1.5 percent respectively in the second quarter, helping Africa's most advanced economy avoid slipping into recession, data showed on Tuesday. The mining sector, which has been hammered by strikes this year, contracted 9.4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second three months of the year, while manufacturing shrank 2.1 percent in the same period, Statistics South Africa said. South Africa's wholesale and retail trade sales shrank 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, while construction grew 5 percent.